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When farce first appeared in English, it had to do with cookery, not comedy. In the 14th century, English adopted farce from Middle French with its original meaning of "forcemeat" or "stuffing." The comedic sense of farce in English dates from the 16th century, when English imported the word again, this time to refer to a kind ofknockabout
comedy already popular in France. This dramatic genre had its origins
in the 13th-century practice of augmenting, or "stuffing," Latin church
texts with explanatory phrases. By the 15th century, a similar practice
had arisen of inserting unscripted buffoonery into religious plays. Such
farces—which included clowning, acrobatics, reversal of social roles,
and indecency—soon developed into a distinct dramatic genre and spread
rapidly in various forms throughout Europe.

Examples of FARCE

"The company's guarantee is a farce," Jay complained. "The replacement they sent broke even more quickly than the original."

"Congress approved the funding with few reservations, and years passed before lawmakers seemed to comprehend their role in the farce."

— Mark Mazzetti, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2018

Test Your Vocabulary

What is the name for a dramatic play in which people act out assigned roles for the purpose of analyzing relationship problems?

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